Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Stock Price

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price reduced by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $53.00 to $52.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 12.48% from the company’s previous close.

FE has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.83.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.95 on Friday, reaching $46.23. 1,367,081 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,726,104. The company’s 50-day moving average is $47.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.32. The firm has a market cap of $26.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $42.87 and a 1-year high of $52.34.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 6.86%.During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $123,018,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth $110,332,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,344,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $841,161,000 after buying an additional 2,185,400 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth approximately $97,602,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,506,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $246,515,000 after acquiring an additional 1,977,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid?Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.